Inserts, poor advice has a cost

At lunchtime yesterday Mama helped me don the bee suit and I opened the hives and inserted the feeders into the hives. Donning, putting on, the bee suit was the tough part. I did not think we were going to make it at first because the hood is not easy to attach to the suit. Mama tried to get the zipper parts lined up for several minutes without success. I had to pull the zipper through to get it started and finally Mama was able to zip me into the suit. That suit will be hot this summer, but it is what we have for now.

Once I was protected, I got the pitcher of syrup and the feeders – which are like deep narrow troughs – and headed to the hives. I have a ratchet strap holding the hives to a pallet in case any animals mess with them or in case of high winds. I released that tie down and took off the top of the hive and the inner cover. Once I took off the inner cover, the bees were all over me. Without the hood, I would have been stung many times. I had to remove two frames from each hive to allow room for the feeder to be inserted into the hive. With that in place, I put everything back carefully in each hive and ratcheted them back down to the pallet.

The whole process took less than twenty minutes. Mama watched from afar. The bees were not happy with the disturbance, but they calmed down very quickly. I lifted out a couple of the full frames to show Mama. It will be better when she has a suit as well. I will not leave the feeders in for more than two weeks. By that time the bees will need the frames reinserted into the hive so they can build and fill comb to fill out the box they have started in. A couple weeks after they fill that box – or are nearly done filling it – I will put on the honey super. Those frames will contain only honey when the bees are done. At least, that is the plan. I will not open the hives again until I need to take out the feeders…unless I see a problem. For now, I check the hives daily from the outside just to make sure I see a lot of activity.

Mama and I are talking about where to put this calf in a couple weeks. She is getting bigger and stronger with the twice daily feedings. Plus, she loves being in the open paddock with the boy goats versus spending the day in her stall. She will need a bigger space on the farm, but the fence is not good in some areas of the farm and I fear she could simply walk through the fence at numerous locations. I have fixed those points of exit that were obvious to me, but I am certain I have not gotten them all. I believe she would not go too far, but I hate to think we would have to catch her in a herd of cattle on someone else’s property. So, we are puzzling that through before we have to make the move. Mama wants to borrow a companion cow from one of our neighbors, but I have not warmed to that idea yet. So, we put her in with the goats in the morning and put her back in her stall at night.

Mama did not go with me to the service last night because she need to do a live presentation at 8:15. But at the service, I talked with Pastor to see when he felt we might open the service to our church. He is going to wait until he hears what the governor of Texas has to say before making that decision. Most of our church members are ready to get back together. The risk (which is minimal) is worth the reward. I am praying we open up businesses this weekend. I firmly believe we will look back on this “quarantine” as an abysmal public policy failure. Case in point. Most of us would never allow a doctor to dictate how to live our lives. What to eat. How and when to exercise. Where we were allowed to travel and who we were allowed to meet. Where you could work and what you could do at that job. And yet we have allowed the government to do just that.

Most of us listen to our personal doctor’s advice – which is always restrictive – and apply it as we see fit. “You need to lose fifteen pounds.” we say, “Yeah, I do” and then we go live our lives. What we would not allow is for that doctor to assign us a “body coach” to be with us 24/7 so they could ensure we followed their specific instructions. Most of us would say that that is oppressive. And yet, here we are. Being told what we can buy, where we can travel, what we can eat, and who we can meet. No wonder there are protests. Thank God we are in Texas. What has been done here for compliance is still too restrictive and many households are suffering the effects of those restrictions. This will end soon, and we will find out that it was mostly for nothing. No way to tell if any lives were actually saved. No benefit. No reward. Only loss. As you can tell I am troubled by it. The road to recovery will be a long one. Some businesses will not make it. Some of our friends will lose everything. Some already have. It was a sad trade off but God is still in control.

I am resting in that.